elecommunications Commissioner Stephen Gale will press ahead with a review of wholesale broadband pricing on Chorus’s ageing copper lines despite government plans to blunt price controls with a review of the entire sector’s regulatory levers. The Commerce Commission will hold a two-day conference on June 12 and 13 to test industry views on its proposed price path to cut the …

The New Zealand dollar gained against most of its trading peers after weak economic figures in Europe and the UK, and rising equity markets stoked demand for so-called risk assets. The kiwi dollar rose to 84.12 US cents from 84.03 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday, having climbed as high as 84.44 cents overnight. The trade-weighted index rose to 77.26 …

Wall Street advanced as solid economic data and a sigh of relief for the health care industry underpinned sentiment. The latest data on the US economy bolstered expectations that the recovery is on track at a pace that will also safeguard the Federal Reserve’s backing. Factory orders advanced 3 percent in February, slightly ahead of economists’ expectations for a 2.9 …